Rench Wealth Management Inc. Purchases 26,505 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Rench Wealth Management increased its Cisco position by 36.9% in the second quarter, acquiring 26,505 additional shares for a total of 98,412 shares valued at $11.6 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 73.33% of Cisco.
• Cisco’s latest quarter exceeded expectations, with EPS of $1.22 and revenue of $17.25 billion, up 17.6% year over year. The company’s AI networking opportunity is expanding, though reliance on hyperscale customers and potential margin pressure remain risks.
• Cisco declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equivalent to $1.68 annually and a 1.5% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $129.68.

Rench Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,412 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 26,505 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises 3.1% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Rench Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $11,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 11,624.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 706,130,053 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $82,942,036,000 after purchasing an additional 700,107,427 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,129,647,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 51,952,421 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $400,190,000 after acquiring an additional 51,363,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,892,379,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting Cisco Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco said AI agents now account for approximately 60% of global inference activity, with AI token usage up fourteenfold. The trend reinforces the company’s thesis that expanding AI workloads will require significant networking investment. Cisco Says AI Agents Now Consume 60% of Global Inference
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco, Advanced Micro Devices and Humain have launched an AI infrastructure deployment in Saudi Arabia. The system combines AMD’s Instinct GPUs and EPYC processors with Cisco’s Silicon One-based 800G switches, supporting Humain’s planned GPU-as-a-service offering across the Middle East and providing Cisco with a potentially significant new growth market. AMD-Cisco Middle East AI Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Industry data showed campus-switch prices rose 19% in the second quarter amid component shortages, helping drive positive market revenue growth. Higher average selling prices could benefit Cisco’s switching business, although supply constraints remain a limitation. Dell’Oro Campus Switch Market Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage currently reflects a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, while recent Zacks coverage focused on whether the stock’s strong AI exposure and fundamentals justify buying after its pullback. Cisco Receives Moderate Buy Consensus
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn that Cisco’s fastest growth increasingly depends on hyperscale customers. A hardware-heavy AI expansion could also pressure gross margins, making the stock vulnerable if hyperscaler spending slows or infrastructure returns normalize. Cisco Growth and Hyperscaler Risk

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $109.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.77 and a 200-day moving average of $103.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.13 and a 12-month high of $130.37. The firm has a market cap of $431.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.00.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%.The business had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Cisco Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.050-5.110 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.320-1.340 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 230,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,727,261.01. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total transaction of $310,389.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 165,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,586,938.96. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 51,004 shares of company stock worth $5,750,920 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CSCO. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Evercore lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.68.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that provides networking, cybersecurity, collaboration, observability and other information technology solutions. Its offerings include routers, switches, wireless networking equipment, data center infrastructure, security platforms, unified communications tools and software designed to help organizations connect, manage and protect their digital environments.

Cisco serves businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, telecommunications providers and other organizations worldwide.

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